Rob flooding still threatens Banjarmasin City: BPBD

Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - Head of Banjarmasin Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) H Husni Thamrin acknowledged that sea water tide still poses a potential threat of flooding to this "City of a Thousand Rivers".

"Rob or tide of sea water has the potential to cause flooding in Banjarmasin," he said when confirmed here on Friday.

Previously, Husni Thamrin accompanied South Kalimantan DPRD member H Suripno Sumas disseminating regional regulation (perda) in Banjarmasin, Thursday.

He recalled sea water flooding or rob flooding occurred in 2014 caused several areas in the city inundated quite high, especially in the suburban areas near Barito River and shores of Java Sea.

"During the 2014 flood, Banjarmasin residents had problems and people activities were disrupted," told Husni Thamrin.

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He said, the tidal flood rose quickly, on the contrary it was slow to recede due to the drainages being filled with rubbish.

In order to reduce the impact of tidal flooding, Husni called for environment to be well maintained, such as drainages not to be blocked due to careless throwing of garbage.

He reminded that building the house or other buildings with backfill system (filling up soil first) will result in no more water catchment areas. 

"Even though there is already a regional regulation (perda) concerning stilt houses (building a house or other buildings using poles) instead of filling it with soil, this regulation does not work," said Husni.

It is known that the geographical location of Banjarmasin city is below sea level, so it is vulnerable to sea tides.

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